Hi Tony, That's fascinating! I hadn't thought of Zephyranthes buds forming and then sitting dormant until conditions are right, but it makes perfect sense. How else could they appear so quickly after rain? It seems reasonable that Lycoris might do the same thing. Only one of my four clumps of L. x squamigera bloomed this year, which isn't too far off their usual production, but my L. longituba bulbs--which had been very reliable--didn't have a single inflorescence. Until I see some foliage, I will be worried that they rotted in the wet weather. Most of my L. x squamigera originally came from a patch that my wife's grandparents planted in Pennsylvania, probably more than 70 years ago. I doubt if it has been thinned or replanted since then. The house is still in the family, but we rarely visit at the right time of year to know how well the bulbs flower. I guess I should ask. Nick On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 12:05 PM Tony Avent <Tony@plantdelights.com> wrote: > Hi Nick; > > > > This brings up another puzzling lycoris issue. Everything I’ve ever read > has repeated that Lycoris x squamigera flowers only after a very cold, long > winter, which is why it flowers reliably in cold climates, but not in > warmer regions...Bill suggested that our long, cool spring in 2020 caused > the buds to break, despite the mild winter temperatures. Others have long > linked rainfall with lycoris flowering, which is certainly the case with > zephyranthes. Sounds like a great grad student project. > > > > Tony Avent > > Proprietor > > tony@plantdelights.com > > Juniper Level Botanic Garden <http://www.juniperlevelbotanicgarden.org/> > and Plant Delights Nursery <http://www.plantdelights.com/> > > Ph 919.772.4794/fx 919.772.4752 > > 9241 Sauls Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA > > USDA Zone 7b/Winter 0-5 F/Summer 95-105F > > "Preserving, Studying, Propagating, and Sharing the World’s Flora” > > > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>